"The Wrexel Presto Files" by Lefty Fabulous

Include Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short.
Include Custom Library Messages by Ron Newcomb.
Include Menus by Emily Short.

Release along with a website, an interpreter, a solution, the introductory booklet, and the private source text.

Part 0 - Setup

Section 1 - Global

The story tense is past tense.
The story viewpoint is first person.

Understand "ex [something]" as examining.

Table of custom library messages (continued)
    library-action	library-message-id	library-message-text
    taking action	1	"I [one of]grabbed[or]swiped[or]took[or]snaked[at random] [the noun]."

[
Instead of dropping the Atomic Time Changer:
	say "I'm going to check out my notepad now.";
	repeat with N running from 1 to the number of rows in the Table of Clues:
		choose row N in the Table of Clues;
		blank out the whole row.
	
]

Section 2 -  Beginning

After printing the banner text:
	wait for any key;
	clear the screen;
	display the boxed quotation "Chapter I: The Gun Moll";
	show the current quotation;
	wait for any key;
	clear the screen;
	say "The year: 1939. The place: Lake Merced, just south of the city of San Francisco, California. The car: my 1934 Ford cabriolet, beige canvas convertible top, burgundy exterior, brown leather interior. The case: Ethel Darby, born 1912, had hired me to investigate the death of her clandestine lover, Dr. Thomas Putney Jr., whose private plane crashed into the Bay two miles north of the San Mateo-Hayward Bay Bridge, killing himself and his wife, Ida Marie.
	[line break][line break]My last memory: a bright flash from behind my eyes, and an explosive stab at the back of my head. Then, darkness.
	[line break][line break]I am Wrexel Presto, private detective. Welcome to my story.";
	wait for any key;
	clear the screen.
	
[	
	[line break][line break]The case: murder, or so Ethel Darby thought.
	[line break][line break]But as far as I could figure, the crash wasn't murder, and Ethel's suspicions were unfounded. Or so I would have told you before that night, when I found myself conked out inside my car, sent over a high steep bank of that cold lake to die in the drink.
]	

Part 1 - Story

Chapter 1 - Escaping the Car

Section 1 - Places

Sinking Cabriolet is a room. "[if unvisited]I was jarred out of unconsciousness when my car hit the water. It started to sink, and fast. I felt the sharp lingering pain coming from the back of my head, and I was pretty sure it had been caused by a blunt and dangerous instrument used with extreme force meant to put me out, probably for good.

First I reached for the door handle and found it wasn't there. No way to roll down the windows either, all the handles had been broken off. I threw my shoulder into the door but it wouldn't budge. Even so, ice cold lake water was seeping into the car at a surprising rate,  around the doors and through a gash cut into the back window. The smell was mossy and thick, pungent as I felt my pant legs starting to soak up the dark oily splash.[otherwise]The inside of my doomed cabrio was pretty spare. Steering wheel, dashboard, glove box. Doors missing handles that would have been pretty useful right then. The canvas top above my head.[end if]"

Section 2 - Things

The player is carrying the Mysterious Note. The description of the Mysterious Note is "Looking at the note again reminded me of the afternoon  when Ethel Darby walked into my office. There was something fishy about the story she told me, but I couldn't say why, I just had a funny feeling. I didn't get hunches like that very often so I always tried to avoid the proposition whenever it happened.

Miss Darby was awfully persuasive, though. It was the way she said 'I will spare no expense to find whoever killed my Thomas, Mr. Presto' that won me over.

I had gambling expenses to cover, after all.

Miss Darby said she found this handwritten note in Dr. Putney's desk. She said she went snooping around his place after she heard about the plane crash -- the police weren't conducting a murder investigation, but she had her reasons, she said, to believe that when the plane the doctor was piloting went fatally into the bay with his wife as passenger, it wasn't an accident.

On the note was written a date -- several days after the Doctor's death -- and the following: 'Spurlock - midnight - Harding Park Clubhouse'.[if Back at the Office is happening]

The note fared surprising well after being treated to an unexpected swim in the cold waters of Lake Merced.[end if]"

The player is carrying the Putney Photograph. The description of the Putney Photograph is "[if Back at the Office is happening]A little waterlogged, but still clear enough, the snapshot [otherwise]The fading snapshot [end if]of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Putney, Jr. didn't seem to reflect two people who were dissatisfied with each other. But if there was a grain of truth in the way Ethel Darby framed it, both had been romantically active outside the bonds of their matrimony."

The player is carrying the Obituary. The description of the Obituary is "I snipped this obituary of Dr. Putney and his wife out of the paper. It read:

OBIT-SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Saturday March 25, 1939
Couple Killed in Plane Crash at San Mateo---Man's Body Recovered in Bay, Woman Still Missing

Dr. Thomas Putney, Jr., San Mateo osteopath, and his wife were instantly killed yesterday when their private plane crashed into the Bay two miles north of the San Mateo-Hayward Bay Bridge. A Coast Guard crash boat recovered the body of Dr. Putney, but that of his wife, Mrs. Ida Marie Putney, was still the object of a wide search, in which the San Mateo County sheriff's office has joined.

DIVE SEEN-
The accident was witnessed by a number of golfers on the San Mateo municipal course, on Coyote Point, and within a few miles of the crash scene. They reported the plane flew for some time in a light haze dangerously close to the water before finally diving into the choppy Bay. Golfing witnesses, so far unidentified, telephoned news of the crash to the Coast Guard Air Station near San Francisco. The search was instituted from there.

IDENTIFICATION-
Doctor Putney's body, found floating on the surface, was identified by San Mateo County Coroner Joseph Young, a personal friend. It was taken to the Adler and Sullivan Funeral Home in San Mateo. Friends said the couple left the Bay Meadows Airport, early yesterday morning on a visit to Dr. Putney's parents in Chico. The plane, a two-place Aeronca C-3, belonged to the Doctor. The victims are survived by two children, Thomas Putney III, a medical student attending Stanford University and Mrs. Roy Parker, wife of an Army Captain. Both live in San Mateo. The couple lived at 25 17th Ave, San Mateo."

The suit jacket is a thing that is wearable. The description is "My tweed jacket. I wore this thing all the time. Fitting that I should wear it to my own funeral..."
The player is wearing a suit jacket.

The suit pants are a thing that is wearable. The description is "My tweed slacks that matched my jacket. They were soaking up ice cold lake water."
The player is wearing suit pants.

A fedora is a thing that is wearable. The description is "My lid was a classic beaver fur fedora handmade by Napoleon Marguez on Geary Street. No way was I going to leave my hat behind."
The player is wearing a fedora.


The glove box is in the Sinking Cabriolet. The ball point pen is in the glove box. The glove box is fixed in place, openable, closed, and opaque.

The description of the glove box is "The glove box. [if open]It's open.[otherwise]It's closed.[end if]"

The description of the ball point pen is "A ball point pen I bought at the race track, labeled 'BAY MEADOWS' in large block lettering."

The steering wheel is in the Sinking Cabriolet. It is fixed in place. The description of it is "I thought, a steering wheel could bust through a window, yeah? Maybe get me out of here? I took hold of the wheel and yanked -- hard. I wrenched it and throttled it violently, but Ford workmanship stayed true and the steering column wouldn't budge. No dice."

The car door is in the Sinking Cabriolet. Understand "car door" or "door" or "doors" as car door. The car door is fixed in place.

The description of the car door is "The doors were shut and locked, and since the door handles had been summarily removed, they were going to stay that way. The window cranks had been wrenched off too. The doors didn't budge when I tried to force them, and the windows held whether I pounded with my fist or threw my shoulder into them. I was going to have to find another way out."

The car door window is part of the car door. Understand "door window" or "door windows" as the car door window.

The description of the car door window is "The windows were solid. Throwing my shoulder into one of them only produced a sharp pain on my side of the equation. I didn't think there was anything immediately available that would bust through that glass."

The canvas roof is in the Sinking Cabriolet. It is fixed in place. The canvas roof can be sliced or unsliced. It is unsliced. Understand "canvas top" or "canvas ceiling" as the canvas roof.

The description of the canvas roof is "The soft canvas roof above my head was ballooning inward from the heavy weight of a lake full of water, with air squeezing out of the cab and water bubbling in. The deeper the car sank, the more pressure was applied, but I wasn't sure if it would give in somehow before the cab filled up and I drowned. The only thing I could think of was if I could cut the roof open with something, I might have a chance to swim to the surface."

The dashboard is a thing in the Sinking Cabriolet. The dashboard is fixed in place. Understand "dash board" or "dash" as the dashboard. The description of the dashboard is "The dashboard displayed your typical instruments -- fuel gauge, voltage meter, speedometer. It also displayed the fact that my car had been the scene of some violent struggles in the past -- it was scuffed, a little beaten, and the glass cover protecting the voltage meter was cracked and broken."

The fuel gauge glass cover is part of the dashboard. The fuel gauge cover can be cracked or uncracked. The fuel gauge cover is uncracked. Understand "fuel guage" or "gauge" as the fuel gauge glass cover. The description of the fuel gauge glass cover is "The fuel gauge was close to empty, as usual. Its glass cover was intact."

The voltage meter glass cover is part of the dashboard. Understand "cracked glass" or "broken glass" as the voltage meter glass cover. The description of the voltage meter glass cover is "The voltage meter still worked, even though the glass cover had been smashed during a scuffle I got myself into with some dubious passenger I took on a while back. The remaining pieces of broken glass were tiny and useless."

The speedometer glass cover is part of the dashboard. The speedometer glass cover can be cracked or uncracked. The speedometer glass cover is uncracked. The description of the speedometer glass cover is "[if uncracked]The speedometer was about five inches in diameter, the largest instrument in the dashboard. The glass cover was intact.[otherwise]The glass cover of the speedometer was mostly shattered, but there was a single solid shard left that looked as though it could prove useful.[end if]"

The shard is part of the speedometer glass cover. Understand "glass shard" as the shard.

The description of the shard is "When I smashed the speedometer, most of it shattered, except for a single solid shard, knifelike and sharp."

Instead of taking the shard when the speedometer glass cover is cracked:
	say "I tugged my shirt cuff over my palm for protection and took hold of the loose glass shard.";
	move the shard to the player.

Section 3 - Scenes

Escaping the Car is a scene. Escaping the car begins when play begins.

Escaping the Car ends when the canvas roof is sliced.

Every turn during Escaping the Car, say "The car sank deeper into the dark waters of Lake Merced."

Every turn during Escaping the Car, say "[one of]My increased pulse was warning me of my dire predicament.[or]The car continued to flood, and it wouldn't be long before the ice cold water overtook me.[or]Time was running short. Pretty soon I'd be swimming with the fishes.[at random]"

When Escaping the Car ends:
	say "I sliced forcefully into the canvas top, and cut open a sizable tear through which water started gushing like a crack in the dam at Hetch Hetchy. Water hit my face, stung my eyes, was forced between my clamped lips. But I grabbed hold of the tear in the roof top and somehow worked myself through. I swam for the surface, my lungs bursting. When I broke out into the night air, gagging on lake water, I knew how close I had come meeting my end.";
	increase the score by 5;
	wait for any key;
	move the player to the Lakeshore.
	

Section 4 - Actions

[####
	Breaking the speedometer to produce the broken glass
####]

Instead of attacking something:
	say "I punched my bare fist into [the noun], but the result was only a fleeting sense of control that immediately dissipated."
	
Instead of attacking something that is cracked:
	say "Though punching [the noun] again might have felt good, I knew it wouldn't get me any closer to escaping with my life."
	
Instead of attacking the fuel gauge glass cover:
	say "I punched the fuel gauge and shattered the glass protecting it. It shattered into tiny, useless splinters. There was some satisfaction in taking out my frustration on the fine details of my lost car, but I was no closer to avoiding becoming lost with it.";
	now the fuel gauge glass cover is cracked.

Instead of attacking the speedometer glass cover:
	say "[if the fuel gauge glass cover is uncracked]Seeing one broken instrument gave me an idea. [end if]I balled my fist and drove it into the glass protecting the speedometer. It cracked. I punched it again, hoping to break some of it away but leave something of a size that might be useful. And it worked -- I managed to produce a single glass shard about the size of the blade of a pocket knife.";
	now the speedometer glass cover is cracked.

[####
	Cutting open the canvas roof to escape
####]

Instead of cutting something, say "I didn't know what I would use to put a rend in [the noun], but finding something sharp would be a first step."

Instead of cutting the canvas roof:
	say "It was my best idea yet. But what was I going to use to cut through the canvas roof?"

Cutting it with is an action applying to two things.
Understand "cut [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "cut through [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "slice [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "slice through [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "tear [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "tear through [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "rip [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.
Understand "rip through [something visible] with [something]" as cutting it with.

Carry out cutting something with something:
	say "It didn't look like anything would come of trying to cut through [the noun] using [the second noun]."

Instead of cutting something with something not carried:
	say "Maybe that would have worked if I'd been holding [the second noun]."

Instead of cutting the canvas roof with the shard when the shard is carried:
	now the canvas roof is sliced.


Chapter 2 - Golf Course Flashback

Section 1 - Places

The Lakeshore is a room. "[if unvisited]Choking and sputtering I slogged myself up onto the shore of the lake. I was shivering and drenched, but I was alive, and clutching my soggy hat. Behind me, the lake water in one spot seemed to boil in the dim moonlight, and I pictured my convertible settling down onto the lake floor beneath those murky depths, never to see the light of day again.

Southeast of me a rock cliff rose to the plateau where, presumably, I was sent into the lake, unconscious and locked in my sunken car. Maybe I'd return there in the daylight and look for clues, but for now, I had to get home and get out of my sopping clothes, and nurse this pounding headache.

To the west was the highway.[otherwise]The lake shore was muddy and dark and cold with the silvery crescent moon shining. Southeast was the rocky cliff, and to the west was the highway.[end if]"

The rocky cliff is southeast of the Lakeshore.

Instead of going southeast from the Lakeshore while Escaped the car is happening, say "I looked toward the rocky cliff and grimaced, cursing under my breath whoever it was who tried to kill me, and making a silent promise to make them pay. I couldn't go looking for clues tonight though. I was too soaked and freezing, and pretty rattled by my near death experience. I'd have to come back in the morning." instead.

Highway One is west of the Lakeshore.

Instead of going west from the Lakeshore:
	say "I started toward the highway for what was likely going to be a long trek back into the city. The bitter cold swept in off the Pacific and pierced me like knivesinv. I shivered violently in the darkness and wretched mist as I reached the road and started following it north.  I started thinking my only chance was if someone came along and offered me a ride. My joints felt frozen, but I kept on. I started to jog, generating body heat -- the only thing I had to combat the freezing chill.
	
	I thought back to where I was just earlier that night, before I took one on the back of the head. It was still before midnight, and I was right nearby the lake, on Harding Road… [line break][line break]";
	wait for any key;
	move the player to Harding Road.

Harding Road is a room. The description of Harding Road is "Harding Road curved its way eastward toward the parking lot. Thick fog swirled in the moonlight as a cold wind swept in off the Pacific Ocean. Stretching out somewhere to the north in that dense fog was the 18th fairway of Harding Park golf course, the distinguished links where you'd find college boys from Stanford chasing balls around with the section of the city's upper class who couldn't qualify for (or afford to join) the Olympic Club.

The late Dr. Putney, amateur aviator, had also been an amateur golfer, so it didn't strike me as odd that he would set up a meeting at the clubhouse where he played -- unless, that is, you considered the time: dead midnight. The message I had in my notepad indicated just that, and though I didn't know who Spurlock was, it seemed unlikely he would honor an appointment with a dead man. Still, it would have been against my nature as a private investigator not to take some time to investigate, so there I was."

The Parking Lot is east of Harding Road. The description of the Parking Lot is "The gravel parking lot fronted a concrete and brick clubhouse to the north. Twisting silhouettes of dark and silent cypress trees surrounded the lot, in the veil of fog glowing in the moonlight.

In the southwest corner of the lot sat a lone Ford pickup truck."

The Eighteenth Fairway is north of Harding Road and northwest of the Parking Lot. The description of the Eighteenth Fairway is "Eighteen stretched out to the southwest and northeast under a swirling blanket of fog. The damp night air made me shiver as I made my way out onto the open fairway. There could have been a small army camped out anywhere in the depth of that gloom and I would have been none the wiser. But by the same token, if there was anybody out there that night, they would have had just as hard a time seeing me."

The Eighteenth Green is northeast of the Eighteenth Fairway. The description of the Eighteenth Green is "The 18th green sat on a wide raised plateau surrounded on three sides by imposing cypress trees. The trees provided some shelter from the icy breeze coming from the lake, but that night's chill bit through my clothes all the same.

The fairway spread out in the gloom to the southwest. The cart path dipped down toward the clubhouse to the southeast, and a small sign barely readable in the dim night pointed east to the 1st tee."

The Cart Path is east of the Eighteenth Green. The description of the Cart Path is "A dirt cart path led from the rear of the clubhouse to the south and edged along the 1st tee. The path seemed to end at the foot of a bridge to the north, barely visible in the moonlit fog. There were tracks worn into the cart path that suggested something bigger than a golf cart sometimes used the path." 

The Bridge is north of the Cart Path. The description of the Bridge is "The bridge crossed over a narrow span of the lake connecting the golf course with a peninsula to the north." The Peninsula is north of the Bridge.

The Maintenance Shack is east of the Bridge. The description of the Maintenance Shack is "The small maintenance shack." The Maintenance Shack can be reachable or unreachable. The Maintenance Shack is unreachable.

The Clubhouse is north of the Parking Lot. The Rear of the Clubhouse is north of the Clubhouse and south of the Cart Path and southeast of the Eighteenth Green. 


Section 2 - Things

The Ford pickup is a vehicle in the Parking Lot. It is closed and fixed in place.

The description of the Ford pickup is "The pickup was scratched and dented with some rust on the fenders. The tires were caked with mud. The truck bed was piled with an assortment of dirty lawn and garden tools."

 The garden tools is a thing that is part of the Ford pickup. Understand "lawn and garden tools" or "lawn tools" as the garden tools. The description of the garden tools is "There were various implements used by the maintenance crew to keep the course manicured for the club's members. They were worn and rusted, but still looked to be functional, if your gig was cutting back weeds and trimming bushes."

Instead of taking the garden tools, say "Since no one was paying me to cut the grass, I decided to leave the tools where they lay."


Section 3 - Scenes

Escaped the car is a scene. Escaped the car begins when Escaping the Car ends. Escaped the car ends when Golf Course Flashback begins.

Golf Course Flashback is a scene. Golf Course Flashback begins when the location of the player is Harding Road for the first time.

Section 4 - Actions

Instead of going east from the Bridge when the Maintenance Shack is unreachable, say "It was especially dark where the shoreline sloped down to the lake, and there didn't appear to be anything interesting in that direction."

Instead of going north from the Bridge when the Maintenance Shack is unreachable:
	say "I stepped out onto the bridge and took a look over the black waters of the lake that shimmered dimly in the fog. Nothing on the other side of the bridge interested me at that moment, but as I turned back toward the golf course, I noticed a small maintenance shack at the shoreline just beneath the bridge on its eastern side.";
	now the Maintenance Shack is reachable.

Instead of going north from the Bridge when the Maintenance Shack is reachable, say "There was nothing across that bridge that I would have been interested in."


Chapter 3 - Back at the Office

Section 1 - Places

Section 2 - Things

Section 3 - Scenes

Back at the Office is a scene. Back at the Office begins when Golf Course Flashback ends.

Section 4 - Actions




